To-Done has another great post, this time on how to say “no”.
Getting to “yes” via “no”. There are situations (I see them all the time in my field) where projects seem to get more and more complicated. This is usually do to the addition of tasks, requirements and people. There are many times when putting your foot down and not letting a new feature creep into your project, or not allowing the addition of a new influence in, can really help you get something finished. Sometimes the quickest way to “yes” or “go” is via “no”.
In my experience, people who have a hard problem saying “no”, also have a hard problem saying “yes”. It’s a simple matter of priorities, but if you’re swamped with things you’re better off turning down, you just have less room in your life to focus on the things you should be doing instead. There’s also a subtle behavior pattern at play. Life is full of events, some of which are opportunities, others are time sinks. When you can’t say “no”, you end up taking on more time sinks than you can afford, and spending a lot of energy postponing them, resenting them, regretting them. You end up tuning out things that come your way, missing out on what could be good opportunities.
In short, read Keith’s post and learn how to be more effective by wisely saying “no”.
